Obelisks and Existentialism
by spinningthroughthevortex
Summary: "I thought Thor put preventative measures in place to deter Loki from attempting to clone you again, O'Neill." His face was perfectly straight except for the slight crinkle at his left eye, which only those who knew him well even knew to look for. "Not Loki." the two muttered in tandem.


"What on Earth?" Sam burst out, as she entered the chamber to find Colonel O'Neill - and his 15-year old self - bruising their right feet with futile kicks to a giant black obelisk, shaking the stones that were placed, seemingly randomly, in little holes along the side. Teal'c strode in behind her with what sounded suspiciously like a muffled snort.

"I thought Thor put preventative measures in place to deter Loki from attempting to clone you again, O'Neill." His face was perfectly straight except for the slight crinkle at his left eye, which only those who knew him well even knew to look for.

"Not Loki." the two muttered in tandem.

"Actually," Daniel piped in, "If I am reading these proto-aramaic runes correctly, the subject is supposed to be duplicated exactly. It was Thor's safeguarding of Jack's DNA that caused the duplicate to appear so young. This line here says something about enhancing an experience by viewing it from different perspectives and..."

"Ah, ah ah!", Jack the elder interrupted. "Just tell me if you can reverse this, Space Monkey."

Daniel sighed in resignation. "Re-integration is mentioned, but I have no idea how to align the stones to achieve it, or even if we need to do anything. It may reverse itself naturally."

"Well, get translating then. Carter, go back to the 'gate and report to Hammond. You can babysit Mini-Me while you're at it. Get a med team to come through just in case. Teal'c, you're with me." And he strode quickly out, ducking just in time to avoid the stalactite poised in the center of the entrance.

* * *

"So, do you have any siblings?" Sam slowed her pace a bit. This Jack still had some growing to do, and his pace showed it.

"You do realize I _am_ him, right? I know exactly what you're trying to do."

"You're smarter than your older self pretends to be."

"I do my best". Jack flashed a lazy smirk at her, paused a moment, then started counting off on his fingers. "Joan. Doctor. Married with 3 rugrats and living in New Zealand. Anthony worked as a chemist for the CIA but was killed in a, quote, gas explosion, end quote. Sean, counting the trees in the Brazilian rainforest, then little old me."

"Do all the O'Neill siblings have doctorates then?"

Jack froze, eyes narrowing. "You sneaky little... You read my file!"

Sam beamed. "Oh yes. All three of them. Astrophysics is not my only area of expertise, you know. I _do_ have other skills."

Jack smirked at her, then paused. "Three?" Jack looked perplexed. "I thought there was only the redacted one and the super top secret read-and-we-shoot-you one."

"Nah. The President had a, well, let's say more palatable one made up for you after the Stargate program was opened up to the other nations. It shows two of your doctorates - military history and engineering, but for some reason excludes your English literature degree. It also skips over some of your more colourful assignments."

Jack sighed. "That's what I get for ignoring all my paperwork. And yes, ours is an over-achieving family. Anyone with less than a Master's degree has to sit at the kiddie table. Why do you go along with my - his - stupid Colonel act if you know better?"

"Sir..." Sam wasn't sure if she ought to continue. But really, this was her chance to have the conversation she could never have with her superior officer, and avoid the inherent dangers. "You know why I keep my distance. You know where it would lead if I spoke this way with... other you."

Jack posed melodramatically, hand on chest. "You wound me, Carter. Are you saying you're only being candid with me because I have no sex appeal?"

"I'm not a pedophile, you ass. Though give yourself another five years and you'll be quite the competition..."

"Yeah, right. The clone will beat me to it. Don't tell me you're holding out for him to reach the age of consent, Mrs. Robinson?"

Sam blushed and looked away. "Actually, Thor and I..." She trailed off.

"Thor and you...?"

"Er, we sort of took care of that, sir."

Jack stopped walking entirely. "You WHAT?"

"It's nothing, sir"

"Stop calling me sir, damn it! Tell me you didn't"

"Didn't what, sir"

"Did you or did you not CLONE YOURSELF without the consent of your superior officer?"

"Technically, sir, Thor did all the actual cloning. Siler got her forged documents and Jon did the cover-up. I spent the whole time in an Asgard pod.

"Why would you do this? And not tell me? Him? Whatever?"

"You know perfectly well why. You know damn well I'm in love with you - him - and could never, ever leave him behind like that. And perhaps I thought that even though I might never get the chance to explore that with him - you - at least some part of me would." Sam's face was flushed from her outburst, and she started walking towards the stargate at a more rapid pace.

"Sam," Jack said softly

"What?"

"He - Jon - appreciates it. He feels the same. So does the old man, though you know he'll never be able to say it to you. Not as things are."

Sam's shoulders shuddered, until she turned around and wrapped her arms around him. He stroked her back, waiting for her to compose herself. "It's not forever, Sam. You'll ... damn it. We'll find a way, someday. And until then, he's rather be nowhere else than watching your six. And I am the expert on me, myself, and I. Whichever one of us is real, I suppose."

Sam felt her admiration for this man, in any incarnation, increase. Even in the midst of an existential crisis he put her needs first. He gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Now let's go dial it up, soldier."

* * *

Janet Fraiser, Napoleonic power mongerer, MD,Ph.D. insisted on coming through herself, followed by a MALP full of medical equipment.

"Well, this device certainly did a better job than Loki", she muttered as she read the results. "Congratulations, you're the proud donor of a perfectly healthy, fifteen and a half year old bouncing duplicate."

A snort was heard from behind the obelisk, where Daniel had mostly finished his translations, and was quietly arguing with Sam as she tried to understand the technical side of the device.

"The interesting thing," Janet continued, "is that the telomere length is exactly what you would expect to see on a regular 15 year old child. This is not a clone. It is a genuine younger Jack O'Neill, albeit one with a very strong electromagnetic field".

"Stop referring to me as 'it', thank you", snarked Jack the younger, as he purposefully sent a spark to his elder self.

"The Colonel is also emitting a strong field. I can't see any cause for this, but it doesn't seem to be harming him at the moment..." Janet continued.

"Guys, come have a look at this", Daniel shouted excitedly.

"The device is drawing a huge amount of power." Sam explained distractedly. "Daniel - does it describe the re-integration as the completion of the procedure, or as a reversal?"

"Actually, it states that 'One will branch into Two until One's required perspective is gained. When Ashor sings, Two must embrace".

"Who is Ashor?" Teal'c deep voice questioned.

"Embrace? I'm not embracing that delinquent!" complained the Colonel.

"What happens if we want to stay separated?" asked said delinquent.

"I think the device's power is keeping you both stable. If either of you were to go too far, or through the Stargate, your body would lose cohesion.

"This day keeps getting better.", the Colonel said, and as if on cue, a loud hum emanated from the obelisk.

Daniel came forward. "Um, guys? I think that could be the singing."

"Yeah, yeah" muttered the elder Jack. "Come on, kid. Give us a hug". He leered at his younger counterpart, whose eyes were rolling as he grabbed on.

A sudden flash of light, and the hum crescendoed until the entire team excepting the Jacks were blocking their ears. When it stopped suddenly, the obelisk had disappeared, and only one Jack O'Neill stood on the platform. Janet wasted no time in poking diagnostic tools in his direction.

"Well that sucked." he said nonchalantly. "Time to blow this popsicle stand."

"What happened to your... duplicate?" asked Daniel.

Jack paused. "I'm him. He's me. I remember both. How trippy..." He went still, then sent a surreptitious glance in the direction of his second-in-command.

"Looks like he's back to normal", Janet remarked, as she withdrew and started packing up her supplies.

Sam blushed, knowing exactly what Jack was remembering from his duplicate's short existence. "Ready to go, sir?"

"Whenever you are, Mata Hari"

"Hey, I was referring to my computer skills!"

"That's what they all say."

Daniel and Janet looked confused. Teal'c simply smiled enigmatically. "And all is well once more", he stated as he dialled the symbols for Earth.

THE END


End file.
